At exactly the same moment, at Snetterton, Norfolk, another 24-hour race is beginning. The engines hum rather than roar, the top speed is 90mph not 240mph, and the drivers are jovial amateurs not top-level stars. This is the 2CV 24 Hours, dubbed the Carry On of car races.

Nosing around the Snetterton pits an hour before the off, I was half expecting to see contraptions straight out of Wacky Races.

“I tell you what, they might only do 80 or 90mph but getting that out of a 602cc engine is some feat,” says Maurice O’Reilly, who has come from New Zealand for the race. “At the same rate a 6 litre Le Mans car would be hitting 900mph on